USA: As the world calls for an immediate ceasfire in Lebanon, the powerful Christian Zionist lobby cheers Israel on

For many, the images from Lebanon are horrific. As Israel continues its military attacks, causing massive damage to Lebanon's infrastructure with about 900 Lebanese killed, including many women and children, the calls for an immediate ceasefire have been rampant worldwide. But very few of these cries are coming from American officials. And some in the United States are even cheering Israel on. Some analysts, like Stephen Walt of Harvard University, believe that despite the international outrage and condemnation of the scale of Israel's military attacks, the United States is standing firmly and unconditionally behind Israel because of the powerful pro-Israeli lobbies. Walt believes that America's unconditional support of Israel actually harms American interests in the Middle East, and in the long run is also harmful to Israel. "The principle goal of the lobby is to make sure the United States provides nearly unconditional support for Israel regardless of what Israel's policies are and what this does in the Middle East of course is it enrages the populations who are bothered by some of Israel's conduct," Walt said. "I want to make it very clear. It's on thing to support Israel's existence and to want the United States to be generally supportive of Israel but it's quite another thing to demand unconditional support. What we've seen for example with the recent crisis in Lebanon is that American politicians aren't willing to say anything remotely critical at all which means that the United States is perceived across the line a set of very brutal policies that are now being afflicted against the population of Lebanon. This doesn't help the United Sates at all and in my view is not good for Israel on the long term as well," he added. Walt is the co-author of a 42-page study that was released earlier this year called "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy". It created a huge uproar among the pro-Israeli lobby, widespread controversy and many attempts to discredit him. The strong reaction, however, did not come as a surprise to Walt. He says the reaction was predictable. "You're virtually certain first of all to be accused of being anti-semitic even if there's absolutely no basis for that. If you had ambitions of say holding higher office or one day serving in the U.S. government, those are likely to be if not eliminated at least sharply reduced because you are going to be a political liability to any candidate who might try to appoint you. Now there's limits to what you can do, now in my case, I can't be fired, I can't really be silenced, but other people who have less secure jobs than I've had have occasionally been pressured out of positions that they are in because they wrote things that were seen as being unpopular," Walt said. At the center of the powerful pro-Israel lobbies is Pastor John Hagee. A popular televangelist who leads the nearly 20,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. While Hagee has long prophesized about the end times, he ratcheted up his rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a necessary precondition for Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In the best-selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West. Shortly after the book's publication, he launched Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a Christian version of the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). And Hagee sees what may be happening in Lebanon as the beginning of the end. "I believe that's going to take several years for that to develop. It may take five, it may take ten, but we see the grass roots of World War III starting before our very eyes," pastor Hagee said. At CUFI's special banquet called "Night to honor Israel" in Washington recently, over 3,500 members attended, including powerful figures and prominent Republicans like former majority leader Tom Delay. Hagee has formed a coalition of Evangelical churches to press the issue in Washington. But their views aren't necessarily shared by all Christians. But Hagee welcomes the coming confrontation. He argues that a strike against Iran will cause Arab nations to unite under Russia's leadership, as outlined in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel, leading to an "inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon." As one analyst explained,evangelical Christians are expected to protect Israel because "if you don't have Israel, you do not have the return of the Messiah."

ITN Source | August 4, 2006

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